China plans implementation of min wages for migrant workers

BEIJING: China plans to put a mechanism in place for better and timely payment of wages to its 200 million migrant workers, state media reported.

The government is also mulling imposing "strict" penalties for delayed wages, Xinhua news agency said, quoting officials of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as saying.

"Strictly implementing the minimum wage system and gradually improving the wages of migrant workers, who come rural areas, would be the core work of the Ministry," officials said.

Ministry statistics show that 120 million of the 200 million migrant workers are from rural areas, amidst government's efforts to improve rural infrastructure to give a fillip to agricultural development and bridge the widening wealth gap between rural and urban areas.

China has pledged to boost investment in rural areas for a balanced development of urban and rural economies and increase its agricultural budget and guarantee equal employment system for rural and urban labourers to check migration to cities.